The Crane Pirates will head out on the road to face off against the Early Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The last three games Crane has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
On Friday, Crane didn't have quite enough to beat Sparta and fell 5-3. The Pirates have struggled against the Trojans recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Early). They blew past Miller 16-2 on Monday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Panthers with their most commanding win of the season.
Ethan Cutler made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits (and not a single walk). He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Early is 2-1 when he allows at most two walks, but 1-2 otherwise. Cutler was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
In other batting news, Early let Cash Graves and Carter Gregory run wild. Graves got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two RBI and one run, while Gregory earned three RBI, two runs, and two stolen bases. Those three RBI gave Gregory a new career-high. Aidan Foster also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Early always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .514. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive contests.
Early has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 3-3 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.5 runs over those games. As for Crane, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-5.
Crane came up short against Early in their previous matchup back in May of 2025, falling 9-5. Can the Pirates avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
